Tuesday, December 9, 2008

It seems Dr. Phil likes to capitalize on transgender misunderstanding and hatred on his show.

"You fool me once shame on you, you fool me twice shame on me"

We must commit to no longer stand idly by as Dr. Phil continues his knack and enjoyment for stigmatizing trans folks. He previously held a program on "Gender Confused Kids" even going so low as to bring in an "expert" from the queerphobic, anti-science & psychology Focus on the Family.

He has two upcoming shows that deal with transsexuality, and they are currently looking for guests.

"Do you think parents who allow their children to dress in opposite sex clothes are wrong? That boys should not be allowed to play with dolls? Girls shouldn't be into super heroes?

Or do you have a child who wanted to play with something of the opposite sex but you would not allow it? Do you feel that boundaries should be set so that young girls play with Barbies and should love the color pink while boys should like sports, action figures, and playing rough?"

Just the wording of this show is offensive and plays into gender stereotyping. Why isn't there a call for parents and real experts who are supportive of their trans children, or is this only to have a one sided view on people who want to express trans-bigotry.

The other show once again plays on the so called "abnormality" of trans people. The title is called "Gender Confused Child?"

"Does your child seem confused about his/her gender? Do you feel your daughter is a tomboy? Does she love sports, hanging with the boys or despise the color pink?

Or does your son dress up in your clothes, wear your shoes or even put on your make-up? Does he play with dolls instead of action figures?

Are you concerned about your child and worried this may end up being more than just a phase? Is it even causing tension in your marriage? OR, are you someone who used to cross-dress as a child but now you've outgrown it?"

This show is once again asserting that transgender behavior is confusion, sick, and somehow can be "cured".

These shows are offensive, transphobic, and Dr. Phil is continuing to put out misinformation in the name of psychology.

42 comments:

I swear, I should go on that show. I played with Barbies and Street Fighter action figures. I had a massive collection of stuffed animals that I didn't part with until about two months ago (aside from a requisite few teddy bears...they still share the bed with my partner and I). I will throw down and fight just about ANYBODY, given the right circumstances. Cute movies make me cry. A LOT. I wear jeans and t-shirts all the time. As well as earrings and lipstick. I spend tons of money on hair products to get a near permanent bedhead. I also giggle like a child. I play violent video games and love action flicks, to my partner's chagrin. And yet I write poetry occasionally as well. In my case, I'm a non-op genderqueer transgirl. Am I confused? No, I lament that society will probably look at me as nothing more than a guy in a skirt until the day I die.

Gender confusion? The only confusion that exists is the idea that there is nothing but a binary, and that apparently liking super heroes makes girls gender confused. Utterly LUDICROUS.

Can we just outlaw the color pink and light blue so they stop being issues? I went to a therapist when I was young who wouldn't shut up until I wore something pink. So I did. Big deal! Looking back, I should have said, "I'll wear pink when you take off your suit and wear a dress. What are YOU afraid of?!"

Damn you to hell Dr Phil! I still remember when he brought that serial killer on his show...then brought the dude's WIFE and interviewed them. Where in this universe did that make sense?

When will he point out that in one point in history it was actually expected of little boys to wear pink because it was a dilution of red, a "boy color" (I got this from my Women's Studies class) and that girls used to wear light blue? Does it even matter? Gender is cultural and there really is no standard or norm, when will he point that out as well? Damn I hate him.

This shit is precisely why I cannot stand this man. He constantly makes these wild gender pronouncements. He is either slut shaming women or having Robin tell us all how the good girls behave. He is nothing more than a redneck with a degree passing himself off as an expert about things he clearly knows nothing about. Why the hell is he still on television? I rank him right up there with Hannity and the boys.

I'm going to write a scathing, bitingly intelligent letter to Dr Phil's peeps tomorrow and just rip them a new one. UGHHHH. Why is he still on television? He needs a lobotomy. And that probably wouldn't even help.

Good to know that in Dr. Phil's world, liking sports and not liking the color pink is all it takes for a girl to be labeled "gender confused". I'm sure we'll all just learn so much when that show airs.

I remember when I was young, my mother used to hit me because I liked playing with dolls of my cousin. Now I'm supergay but discriminated against throughout the world because of a ex boyfriend, it seems to me that being homosexual it was my worst sin ever. But I don't surrender, I still trying to survive and achieve my goals. That guy is a major douche.

Who says because you support your transgender child you are a real expert? If anything that would make you biased? You are accusing Dr. Phil of only portraying one side of the story, but that is exactly what you want, only you want your side of the story, (pro transgender) to be on the show. Seems a bit hypocritical to me. Both sides need to be accurately depicted and they can debate about what is best. Only portraying one side, no matter what side it is, does no one any good.

It is hard for me to tell, from what is posted above, what exactly is Dr. Phil's position; the wording of the solicitations and the fact of a Focus on The Family/ APA-condemned crank appearing only tells me that this is about provocation and ratings. I don't know - can Phil be quoted as saying something non-equivocally anti-transgender? Not a fan of his, just seeking clarity.

Anonymous this is not a political issue where both sides need to be represented. This is science, psychology, and mental as well as physical health. Just like we don't need idiots telling us the Earth is flat, when we know it isn't, we don't need "transgender experts" who are biased because of their religion who don't know a thing about gender identity.

What is the difference, exactly, between an action figure and a doll? An action figure is a kind of doll, just like a plastic baby that wets itself is a kind of doll, and a sock monkey is a kind of doll... It's all make-believe with small person-like or anthropomorphized dolls. Boys do it, girls do it, trans and intersex kids do it...

I believe psychology/psychiatry is a fraud, period. It is constructed from patriarchal views. Period...Damn the women, damn the Blacks, and damn anything in between...I once said that I would not adhere to gender norms in my household and let "boy" and "girl" toys be utilized. I got ridiculed by my peers. Oh well. Label me a dysfunctional mom.

Oh COME ON. Just the premise of the question "Is it wrong for a little boy to wear pink?" is so overtly sexist that I would think dear Doc Phil will be offending a much bigger swathe of people than just transsexed and homosexual ones. Aaargh!

One might hope that he intends to deconstruct some of the nasty stereotypes out there and demonstrate the differences between sexuality, identity, role and presentation clearly, but given his track-record, I won't be holding my breath.

Dr. Phil is the reason I don't trust Oprah Winfrey. She discovered him and let him loose on America. She has never denounced his bigotted agenda. I see him as Oprah's way to propogate bigotry and hatred without getting her hands dirty.

paige!lovely!you hit the nail on the head,regarding gender confusion/gender dysphoria!the world,as it continues to be taught false truths,such as "there are only two real sexes in the world"will continually give birth to ignorance!

the realities in my mind(yet to be proven but give me time)are that there must be more intersexed people in the world than "normal" people!

pink,playing with dolls,wearing make up and earrings: being associated with a larger percentage of femininity in the individualandblue,trousers,building tools and if you want to use superheroes as an example(even though i think the love for superheroes is a unisex activity):being associated with being predominantly "male" in characteristicis 18th century!or earlier!:)smile and the whole world smiles with youi think we are a cocktail of all sortsand classifying people as just one or the other"masculine" or "feminine" is fundamentally warped and dangerous for peoples natural growth into being their true selves!

to stick up for dr.phil and others who do truly try their best but are not perfect

we must educate these people politelypersonally i think calling and labelling dr.phil a doucheis as bad as us intersexed people getting treated and labelled as sexes that we are certainly not!lets not call ignorance stupiditydr.phil has the intelligence to learn betterbut dr.phil will never listen to people like us if we open up the dialogue with "hey douchebag"!

absolutely...........thanks for responding because i was starting to become oaranoid in thinking that i am once again writing toooooo much too soon!which maybe i am doing anyway but i do really appreciate discussing these issues with others!it is highly disappointing that a figure such as dr.phil would not be as understanding of gender issues......but then again ,i wonder has dr.phil in fact heard of intersex-i wonder!anyway....have a great new year!

Somebody should start an e-mail campaign to that despicable MORON, Dr Phil letting him know his actions are nothing less than morally reprehensible;. I would love to see 10 million very ANGRY people let that S-O-B have it with BOTH BARRELS, wouldn't YOU?!

*sigh* Two steps forward, one step back. Perhaps it's good for ratings to portray a pure unblemished and perfect image of humanity. One where we're all heterosexual, married with two and a half kids and a golden retriever and a white picket fence. Um, but last I checked that never existed...

"I believe psychology/psychiatry is a fraud, period. It is constructed from patriarchal views." ~RJ

Right on, but not because of how it is, but what we actually know of it. Every one knows what "penis envy" is but has never heard of "womb envy" A psychological theory put forth by a contemporary of Dr. Fraud's, Karen Horney. It means the unconscious desire to control life and death. Why men want control of women's birth choices and why they hold so many wars.

In order to hold sexism in place, it is important to know who the sexes are. Same with marriage, if gay people can marry, how is a straight guy to prove his straightness?

I once saw some talk show where disturbed parents dragged thier young jeans and dirt loving daughters on stage to have them "re made" as "true" girls. Most of them were in tears by the end. This isnt therapy, telling your child there is something about them that is "wrong" and that it cant be accepted is a form of child abuse.

I actually like Dr.Phil, but he should go back to school. Like most of them, his knowledge level is incomplete (lacking in feminist theories of psychology) and outdated.

I want to do research on people who believe dr. phil's nonsense..... I think it would be interesting how many people assume he really has a PHD, MD, DMD, DDS, LSW, etc. He is not a Dr. Dr's would watch and cite their sources better.

I suppose this could get me into all KINDS of trouble, but I am transgendered, and I went to the Dr. Phil site all ready to be mad and write open letters of protest as I have in the past to shows like 60 Minutes, who REALLY dropped the ball and basically said Gay and TG are the same thing a couple years ago. (They aren't, in case you are wondering. I'm about as straight as one can get.)

Thing is, I never once saw Dr. Phil himself offer an opinion. The shows are pretty unbiased in all honesty. Sure there are dimwitted "experts" featured, but they are from both sides of the debate.

Another thing I don't get is the blatant hypocrisy in which MANY of you engage. You THINK Dr. Phil is saying "bad things" about TG and gays (did you even bother watching the shows before acting like rabid dogs?), so immediately you post him up as some kind of enemy and call him a "douche"? If you are intolerant of him, how can you call those who are intolerant of you "wrong"?

Lastly, I am not a Dr. Phil advocate. I don't watch his show (it is on at the same time as People's Court...). The only time I have ever been to his site was today to watch the clips and read the discussion pertaining to these shows. I don't particularly care for him. But I do believe some of you need to practice more of that tolerance you preach.

Dr Phil is ridiculous. He's just playing into gender stereotypes and ignorance to transgenderism. I'm a guy, and I spent my childhood playing with Action Men and Power Rangers (only the blue and red ones), I played, and still play, football, I joined in with all the mock-wars in the playground, but I've grown up to be a bisexual occasional crossdresser. The guy has no idea.

Somebody like "Dr" Phil don't deserve any respect! would Hitler deserve any? NO!! Words of intolerance and hateful propaganda have consequences within the trans,gay, lesbian,and bi community since someone could get hurt out there for all this talk show joke! Misinformation of this nature can and will make some people trans-phobic in my opinion. Dr Phil you should be put in jail for misinforming people and for hateful propaganda!...AND OPRAH TOO!!! they don't deserve respect just like they don't respect us trans people!

Hi, I just stumbled across your blog and had to comment because that topic is just whacked. I don't watch his show, never have because I think he's too close-minded, loud, egotistical, brash and judgmental- but dude. WTH is wrong with letting your kids dress the way they want to? My take is, let 'em go. They're KIDS for goodness sake!

My boys wear pink sometimes and they play with their sister's dollies- nothing wrong with that, I think it's nice that they want to be like their dad. (Yep, Daddy wears pink sometimes too.) My girls play with bugs, dress like superheroes and wear capes and I think it's nice that they want to be like me. ;-)

Point is, kids are kids. Who cares what they play with or what they wear. As parents, we should just be thankful that they aren't playing with drug needles and that they are even WEARING anything at all.

If this is how HE (and not just his "I got a great story that you should do" producers) feels, then I feel sad for his kids.

I'm not gay but have several relatives (including a sister and a brother in law) who are and this kind of thing just ticks me the hell off.

I'm sorry, but when "expert" psychologists/psychiatrists still suggest that there is such a thing as Gender Identity Disorder (essentially what Dr. Phil calls "Gender confused"), then can you blame Dr. Phil for having his show on this topic?

Instead of branding Dr. Phil a douche (even though he is...haha), why don't we place our efforts somewhere else: Like getting Gender Identity Disorder (GID) taken out of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). They are working on changes to the DSM as I write this--set to be renewed by 2012.

Dr. Phil is merely just another American who takes the advice of so-called "experts" and continues to do his job based on that advice. But if the experts are the ones who are wrong to begin with, then it's time we START WITH THEM.

Go to http://www.gidreform.org/dsm5.htmlto learn more and start placing your anger at the RIGHT sources.

Just like 1970-1973, when gays and lesbians bombarded the American Psychiatric Association's meetings and spoke out resulting in the removal of Homosexuality from the DSM as a mental disorder, WE TOO CAN MAKE THIS CHANGE NOW WITH Gender Identity!!

Marriage is between a MAN and a WOMAN. I agree gays should have equal rights but marriage is about religion and in the bible marriage is about a MAN and a Woman.

As for trans kids well I think you are not born gay as no one is born into sexuality because sexuality is something that does not exist until puberty. Thus children should be encourage to relate to their own gender and should be encouraged to be a normal healthy straight child.

The Dr. Phil Show used to be a guilty pleasure of mine, bit I gave it up after the 'Gender Confused Kids' episode. I was absolutely fuming about how they handled the topic of transexuality and played on the general audience's transphobia.